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I backed away frorandht be ato conforry vein pulsed in her temple "You want Death so badly, he’ll end your life He will take your head; I swear it And if you’ve truly fallen in love with him, then you deserve it!"

As I stared at her in disbelief, Paul strode into the room

In a firm tone, he told me, "Evie, you need to take a break Noill stay with her till ered on my feet I needed Aric I needed us to be the ere Hadn’t I always been on this path to hiht as well try to hold back the waves of the ocean

Jack wouldn’t begrudge me this, not at the end of the world

And this ti new to offer

I told Gran, "I-I’ll be back soon" In a daze, I headed toward Aric’s study Animals trooat In the living roo the carpet

Aric’s well-ordered sanctuary had been overrun He was going to be furious

I opened up his study Not there But I felt a pang to see that he’d left the poppy growing in his desk I gave it a little juice to perk it up, then headed to the training yard No sign of hione

I hurried down to the river "Circe! Where’d Aric go?"

"Hmm"

"Not noith that shit, Priestess!"

"The last I saw of hiht with anguish"

I sprinted back up the steep drive I found Lark in her room--which now had wall-to-wall fur, feathers, and scales I stepped on solowed red as she searched

"Where’s Aric?"

She shook herself out of her trance "Away"

My glyphs flared "What?" He was out there alone? With the Emperor on the loose? What if Aric never returned? If Richter found hi on and off for the last feeeks You just never noticed"